Feasibility of On-demand Additive Manufacturing of Spare Parts

A.A. van Oudheusden*, A.J. Buijserd, E.L. Doubrovski, Bas Flipsen, Jeremy Faludi, R. Balkenende

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeConference contributionScientific

26 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Spare parts availability is crucial for extending the life of consumer products. However, long-term availability could lead to high stocks of spare parts, which might not be used. Instead, on-demand manufacturing of spare parts with additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising alternative. This paper presents a method to evaluate parts on their eligibility for AM spare parts. The parts evaluation is based on AM technology accessibility as well as part requirements. This method was tested by assessing all parts of the Dyson V11 broom-stick vacuum-cleaner and validated by printing and testing a selection of parts. For this, both plastic and metal spare parts were made through fused deposition modelling (FDM), stereolithography (SLA), binder jetting (BJ), material jetting (MJ), selective laser melting (SLM), selective laser sintering (SLS), and multi jet fusion (MJF), using both desktop FDM printers and off-site service providers. Based on these results, we conclude that currently only a small number of parts can be replaced by additive manufactured parts without considerable redesign efforts. AM parts can compete on price with the current stocked parts, but may be more expensive for other products. We also identified additional functional requirements for evaluating the eligibility of a spare part for AM.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 5th PLATE Conference 2023
EditorsKirsi Niinimäki, Kirsti Cura
Place of PublicationEspoo, Finland
PublisherAalto University
Pages1129-1136
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)978-952-64-1367-9
Publication statusPublished - 2023
EventPLATE 2023: 5th PLATE Conference - Espoo, Finland
Duration: 31 May 20232 Jun 2023

Publication series

NameAalto University Monographic series
ISSN (Electronic)1799-4861

Conference

ConferencePLATE 2023
Country/TerritoryFinland
CityEspoo
Period31/05/232/06/23

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

  • additive manufacturing
  • 3D printing
  • repair
  • spare parts
  • sustainable design

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Feasibility of On-demand Additive Manufacturing of Spare Parts'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this